Domitius Marsus

Domitius Marsus (/ˈmɑːrsəs/; died c. 15 BC) was a Latin poet, friend of Virgil and Tibullus, and contemporary of Horace.^[1]

He survived Tibullus (died 19 BC), but was no longer alive when Ovid wrote (c. 12 AD) the epistle from Pontus (Ex Ponto, iv. 16) containing a list of poets. He was the author of a collection of epigrams called Cicuta ("hemlock") for their bitter sarcasm, and of a beautiful epitaph on the death of Tibullus;^[2] of elegiac poems, probably of an erotic character; of an epic poem Amazonis; and of a prose work on wit (De urbanitate).^[1]

Martial often alluded to Marsus as one of his predecessors, but he was never mentioned by Horace, although a passage in the Odes (iv. 4, 19) is supposed to be an indirect allusion to the Amazonis.^[3][1]